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For Immediate Release

Hallam L. Movius, Jr. Lecture

Recent Discoveries in the Altai: Issues on the Evolution of Homo Sapiens

(Cambridge, February 22, 2012) Denisova Cave in Altai Krai, Russia, has yielded one of the largest collections of artifacts which have recently demonstrated that Denisova man was a human ancestor, associated with early Upper Paleolithic artifacts from about 50,000 years ago.

The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology presents the Hallam L. Movius, Jr. lecture by paleoanthropologist Anatoly Derevianko titled “Recent Discoveries in the Altai: Issues on the Evolution of Homo Sapiens” on Thursday March 22, 2012 at 6:00 PM at Harvard's Geological Lecture Hall (24 Oxford St.), followed by a public reception at the Peabody Museum, 11 Divinity Ave. The lecture will be in Russian with English translation.

Archaeological materials from the Altai Paleolithic sites in Central Asia are among the most interesting and important recent discoveries related to modern human evolution. The Altai archaeological finds illustrate the development of Paleolithic cultural traditions from 282,000 to 10,000 years ago.

This illustrated talk will explore how Denisova man and the new data from the Altai connect with contemporary theories of human evolution.

Anatoly Derevianko is Head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography.

About the Peabody Museum
The Peabody Museum is among the oldest archaeological and ethnographic museums in the world with one of the finest collections of human cultural history found anywhere. It is home to superb materials from Africa, ancient Europe, North America, Mesoamerica, Oceania, and South America in particular. In addition to its archaeological and ethnographic holdings, the Museum’s photographic archives, one of the largest of its kind, hold more than 500,000 historical photographs, dating from the mid-nineteenth century to the present and chronicling anthropology, archaeology, and world culture.

Hours and location: 9 A.M. to 5 P.M., seven days a week. The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. Admission is $9 for adults, $7 for students and seniors, $6 for children, 3–18. Free with Harvard ID or Museum membership. The Museum is free to Massachusetts residents Sundays, 9 A.M. to noon, year round, and Wednesdays from 3 P.M. to 5 P.M. (September to May). Admission includes admission to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. For more information call 617-496-1027 or go online to: www.peabody.harvard.edu. The Peabody Museum is located at 11 Divinity Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Museum is a short walk from the Harvard Square MBTA station.